Age of Druids (13 page)

Because Lisle would die refusing the role if she had to, Sheng would likely support Demi as the person he believed would be the next best thing. Aaron named Maiya, but Lisle suspected Joy had put him up to it. The spirit faerie had an attachment to both of the lethfae children, probably out of gratitude for Maiya saving her life and Jago for healing her many scars. Lisle believed Aaron could be convinced to vote for Munro if he thought the young princess would someday ascend to the throne. Lisle made a mental note to keep her idea of a non-hereditary title to herself for now.

Douglas seemed angry at Munro, probably due to Griogair’s arrest. Although Munro had allowed Tràth to visit his father after the council meeting, it would take time for that situation to cool. She watched the young druid and wondered how she could bring him and his bonded faerie, who would have a great influence on him for some time, around. Helping Munro solve the problem with Griogair would be an enormous help.

Rory was a wildcard, and if Lisle heard right, he’d sold Flùranach. Munro would have a few words to say about that, adding to the occasional friction between the two men. His issue would need addressing too, but she suspected Munro would handle it well. The others ignored Rory often or seemed to find Rory increasingly difficult to deal with, but Munro had a special understanding of him and sympathy for his situation the others lacked. If Rory didn’t want to end up completely friendless, he’d reconcile their differences. Maybe Lisle could convince him to vote for Munro as a way of showing support. But then, that might add to Munro’s annoyance with him, since he was being so stubborn about accepting the obvious solution.

Shaking her head, Lisle broke her reverie and listened as Munro explained the situation in Caledonia, Griogair’s arrest, and his taking the prince out of Eilidh’s hands. “Challenging your wife so publicly must have been difficult,” she said.

Munro flicked a crumb off the table. “Not my favourite moment.”

Faerie servants appeared and served the meal. Lisle raised her voice over the clatter of dishes, not wanting to lose her chance to speak. “You may have saved Prince Griogair’s life. I’m sure both your wife and his son are grateful.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Munro said with a wry smile. “Eilidh’s angry, feeling betrayed, and worried I’m going to usurp her authority. Being summoned to the Druid Council meeting didn’t do her humour any favours either. Tràth is spitting nails.”

“Eilidh doesn’t like being challenged,” Lisle said. “I have no doubt she loves her first mate and is grateful to not have to order his execution. She is conflicted, but I can’t imagine she relished her situation. You’ve relieved her of a terrible duty. Prince Tràth will come around once he speaks to his father and gets the whole story.”

“I hope you’re right,” Munro said. Before she could speak again, Munro turned to Rory. “You want to tell me what happened in Danastai?”

Lisle winced. He might have been gentler, but perhaps Rory would respond best to the direct approach.

“Aye, well, Flùranach wanted to stay in Danastai, so I released her,” Rory said.

Munro raised an eyebrow at Sheng. “Is that how things went?”

“Sort of,” Sheng said hesitantly. Lisle felt for him. As the newest druid, he believed the others had a bond of friendship he’d never penetrate. He needed to give the situation time, but young people were so impatient.

Munro cut a piece of meat and dipped it in the honeyed sauce on his plate. “Uh huh. So, you left her on her own?”

“Naw, of course not,” Rory said. “Ewain invited her to stay, and she said yes. It’s not like I dumped her in the woods by herself.”

Munro ate his food without looking up, seeming not to notice everyone else watching the interchange intently. “So Sheng misunderstood? Ewain didn’t give you anything in exchange for her?” He kept his tone non-confrontational.

Rory shifted uncomfortably. “You’re making it sound bad. She wanted to stay.”

Munro dipped his bread in the tart berry sauce on his plate. “What did he offer you?”

After a moment’s pause, Rory relented. “He promised he’d heal the ‘temple of my bond’ so me and Flùranach would be able to bond with other people.”

A look of compassion crossed Munro’s face and he met Rory’s gaze and nodded. “What’s this about visiting some underwater place?”

Rory relaxed, seeming to sense Munro wasn’t going to shout at him, and that possibly the worst of the interrogation was over. Lisle wondered if he was right, or if Munro had simply changed tacks for the moment. “He wants some artefact known as the Cup of Cultus. Said he needed it to help you rebuild The Way, which is what he called the gate you found in Colorado. He said once I came back with the Cup, he’d fix my bond, free me from her forever.”

“Sheng, did you get the impression Flùranach wanted to stay?” Douglas asked. Lisle was surprised he chimed in, but he’d grown more confident over the past few months. After his experience in Zalia with the mistreatment of azuri fae, perhaps his advocacy for the girl made sense. Despite her powerful abilities, Flùranach often seemed lost, as though she’d never truly discovered her place in the world.

The Aussie druid grew thoughtful. “She was emphatic about not wanting to come back here. Problem is, I can’t swear Ewain wasn’t messing with her mind, using her astral powers to influence her decision.”

Rory tossed his fork on the table, then glared at Munro. “She said she’d rather die than be with me. Is that what you want to hear?” His face had gone red, and he appeared both angry and embarrassed.

“I’m sorry,” Munro said quietly. “You two have never had it easy. I know you did your best to try to be happy with her.” He turned to the others. “I don’t see as there’s anything we can do if she genuinely wants to live in Danastai with Ewain.”

“We need her to help find other druids,” Aaron said. “Maybe one of us should go talk to her.”

“Ewain did say the flute he gave Munro had the ability to reveal druids,” Sheng said.

Munro reached out and fingered the iron crown he’d set on the table when they arrived. “I wonder…” he said and picked it up. “I was trying to make something wearable to replace the flute. He’s right. The thing is powerful, but a pain to work with.”

“Your solution was to create a crown?” Douglas asked with a laugh.

Lisle could tell the jibe made Munro uncomfortable, but he disguised his reaction well. “My power generates from my head.” He gestured to Rory, Douglas, and Aaron. “Yours is lower, around your middle.” Slipping the crown on his head, his eyes changed focus and the magic within them began to swirl. “Sheng’s is at his throat. It must be because he’s an air druid.” Turning to meet Lisle’s gaze, he said, “And yours is at your waist.”

“I find it both unsurprising and hilarious that Munro’s stone talent comes from his head. I always thought his brain was like a rock,” Aaron said to the others, who all laughed. “So does the crown work?”

“I can see your flows. Everything looks slightly different than with the flute, but I suspected the process would require some trial and error.”

“Mind if I take a look?” Sheng said.

“Sure,” Munro said. He removed the crown and slid the artefact across the wooden table to Sheng. The moment he took it off, his eyes changed slightly. Lisle itched to get her hands on the piece too. He truly was the most gifted of all of them. Some of the others didn’t realise that and believed he was holding back things Ewain taught him. Lisle added one more thing to her list of things to discuss as she spoke to each of them about naming him king. They must be made to understand.

The Aussie druid fingered the runes on the diadem, and Lisle could swear she saw a ribbon of light moving around his hands for an instant. “Ewain gave me some ideas for how to modify one of my talismans,” he said, indicating a stone he wore hanging from his neck. “I wonder if the same runes would work on a crown. You know, to create a bubble.” When the others looked at him blankly, he said, “To breathe underwater? If we’re going to get this Cup of Cultus thing, we’re going to have to do something.” He told them what had happened when they arrived at the place Ewain had sent them.

“You sure you got the rune right? Rory’s runework is dodgy at best,” Douglas said with a chuckle.

“Yes, I got the bloody rune right,” Rory snapped. He fished a stone out of his pocket and slid it across the table toward the younger druid. “Feel free to check my spelling.”

“Someone probably should take a second look,” Munro said, then quickly added, “Not that I doubt your abilities, Rors. But a small change can make a big difference in a rune this complex. I’ve never seen one so intricate. You want to help with that, Douglas? You’ve got the best feel for artefacts.” The comment made Lisle shake her head. Everyone knew Munro was unparalleled in his mastery of runes. Why did he have to be so self-deprecating? His humility was charming but would make her job more difficult.

“Sure,” Douglas said.

“There’s one small problem,” Rory said. “I can’t swim. Not very well, anyway. If we’re going back to search for this artefact, I’ll struggle even if Sheng does make something to help us breathe. He had to save my arse in there.”

“I’m a pretty hopeless swimmer myself,” Munro said. “I sink like a stone.”

“I do all right in water,” Aaron said. “I’d like to go. Working on these transport gates for the queens is doing my head in.”

“I’ll go back,” Sheng said. “I worked as a lifeguard when I was at uni.”

“Did Ewain tell you what to look for at all?” Munro asked.

“Not really,” Rory admitted. “He just gave me the coordinate rune and said to find and retrieve the Cup of Cultus. I figured I’d play things by ear, get a sense of what territory we were in before we made any moves.”

“Why underwater?” Sheng asked. “That’s what I don’t understand.”

“My guess is either the rune was slightly altered in the inscription and you ended up off the mark, or Ewain sent you to the sea fae,” Munro said.

“Do we know anything about them?” Aaron asked.

“Their queen is named Grenna. Beyond that, I’ve got nothing,” Munro said. “I’d talk to the keepers and find out what they can offer. I suppose we should call them elders now that they’re our conclave. Sheng, you play around with your bubble crown idea. Maybe you can come up with something that works for both you and Aaron.”

“No problem,” Sheng said, his face betraying his excitement at the prospect of a new project. Lisle liked that he was always eager to learn.

“And what about our other issues?” Lisle asked. “Prince Griogair’s troubles and our investigation into my granddaughter and Huck’s disappearance? Surely you realise you do not have to shoulder these problems alone.”

“I can’t even imagine how difficult this is for you. Do you want to join the search for Demi and Huck?” Munro asked.

“I’ve left the matter to you because you have experience with such things and I felt the need to stay close to Jago. Now he’s settled in the Caledonian nursery, so I could do more,” she said.

“The problem is that I’m wandering aimlessly. I’ve spoken to Huck’s family. He and Demi went to the wedding, and there was an altercation. Apparently he tried to talk Anna out of getting married, and according to her, he told her she was a druid. He wanted her to come here. He was supposed to meet her one last time the morning of the wedding. She thought he was going to try again, but he never showed. At first, she assumed he changed his mind, but she called off her wedding anyway and began to search for him herself. And I checked. Huck and Demi never got on a flight. If they left Colorado, they didn’t go on an airplane.”

Lisle nodded. He’d told her this before, but it helped her order her thoughts to hear the facts again. Munro had an uncanny instinct for the right words to say in a crisis. She suspected he must have been a good policeman.

“A desk clerk at their hotel said he and Demi were going hiking the day before the wedding. They never came back, and the hotel reported them missing after two days. Since the police had no reason to suspect foul play, the investigation didn’t go anywhere. The park rangers at Mesa Verde found no evidence of them having arrived. They didn’t sign in, but that doesn’t mean a lot.”

“You’ve been searching the same area ever since?”

“As best I can,” he said with a nod. “Mesa Verde is huge, over two hundred square kilometres. The only glimmer of hope I found was that Way gate, but I couldn’t find any evidence it had anything to do with their disappearance.”

“This monument is a druid artefact,” she said. “For now, it seems the best clue to pursue.” She kept her tone gentle. “I know you feel responsible for their well-being, but you cannot keep wandering in the woods. Your efforts are getting you nowhere. If the gate information does not pan out, we will move on, and I will help you search. But you’re exhausting yourself. We need you to be strong. To do that, you must take better care of yourself.”

He smiled tiredly. “You’re not going to talk me into being king, Lisle.”

“We shall see,” she said. “Now, learn what you can about this gate, and I will speak to Prince Griogair. Will you trust me to poke my nose into the matter, to attempt to get to the bottom of his troubles?”